Stowey Bears Pre-School

Child-led play and a close connection with Nether Stowey’s primary school give Stowey Bears Pre-School its character. This committee-run village setting involves parents, staff and local residents in its committee, while its curriculum starts with what interests each child. The emphasis is on choosing, experimenting and becoming more independent.

At its November 2021 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good and found safeguarding effective, with positive findings on support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Those findings are dated, rather than a fresh assessment of today’s practice. Stowey Bears has capacity for 24 children aged 24 to 60 months, and offers morning, afternoon and all-day attendance during term time.

Rooms and Ages

The Cub Room emphasises communication, physical development and children’s social and emotional development, while the Preschool Room also brings in mathematics, literacy, creative expression and understanding the world. That progression gives families a clear picture of how the learning emphasis changes between rooms, rather than treating preschool preparation as an abrupt final stage.

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children’s learning, development and care: here, children’s play is used to develop language, movement, relationships and later learning. Within that framework, the curriculum allows children to choose activities, with adults introducing fresh possibilities once an interest has taken hold.

Learning and Activities

Natural resources and other materials with several possible uses support experimentation. Children can adapt activities to their interests, and adults combine this freedom with some planned activities about cultural occasions and differences between communities. The practical value is choice with purposeful adult input: a child’s interest becomes a starting point for extending an activity.

In November 2021, dough-making brought together measuring, descriptive language and following instructions. Children also persisted with folding letters until they would fit through a post box. These were small, concrete examples of learning through a task rather than simply completing an adult’s demonstration.

There were limits to that approach. In November 2021, adults sometimes supplied an answer before children had worked through a problem themselves; allowing more thinking time was an improvement priority. That matters in a curriculum built around experimentation, where an adult’s speed can cut short a child’s discovery.

Outdoor and Community Life

A sensory room provided a quieter place to pause in November 2021, and listening walks took children into the surrounding community to concentrate on sounds. The mud kitchen also featured in outdoor play. These examples connect the physical environment with different kinds of attention: active exploration outside and a calmer space when needed.

The kindness tree gave children a concrete way to recognise helpful behaviour in November 2021. Children nominated a peer after receiving help with a cooking activity, making kindness something they could identify in their own experience.

Relationships and Communication

A key person links each child with a familiar practitioner and their family. Settling arrangements take account of family needs, giving parents a consistent relationship through which to share information about their child. The system is supported by continuing staff development, including safeguarding and paediatric first aid training, alongside certifications covering food hygiene, communication and the key person role.

Tapestry, the online learning journal, holds observations, photographs, next steps and progress information. Parents can contribute observations from home as well as view their child’s experiences. This makes communication a two-way exchange: something a child does at home can help staff understand their development in the setting.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

There is a SENCO role within the team. In November 2021, staff worked with families and other professionals on speech and language, including using mirrors to help children practise mouth movements for sounds. The sensory room and listening activities were further practical examples of adapting resources to children’s needs at that time.

In November 2021, children practised everyday independence by tidying before lunch and putting away outdoor equipment. Handwashing and coughing into an elbow were part of daily care. Behaviour expectations needed more consistent application by staff, however, and this was the other improvement priority. Warm relationships and clear boundaries both mattered to the account of children’s day.

Sessions and Attendance

Stowey Bears is at Mill Close, Nether Stowey, Bridgwater, Somerset, TA5 1NX. Attendance is term time only, Monday to Friday: morning sessions run from 8.50am to 11.50am, afternoon sessions from 12.20pm to 3.20pm, and all-day attendance from 8.50am to 3.20pm. Lunch sits between the two shorter sessions, from 11.50am to 12.20pm.

Registration involves completing a form. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01278 734636 or by email to stoweybearspreschool@outlook.com. The combination of shorter sessions and an all-day option gives families different attendance patterns within the same term-time timetable.

Funding and Paid Extras

Both privately paid and local-authority-funded childcare are offered, including 15/30 hours free funding sessions. Funding can cover morning and afternoon attendance; lunch supervision can also use funded hours where the family has not already claimed its full allocation, with extra supervision charged separately when those hours are exhausted. The supervision charge does not buy food.

Snacks and non-food consumables carry separate daily charges which are voluntary, and a child is not excluded if they are unpaid; opting out requires written notification and parents must supply two healthy snacks per attending day. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation, and the fees and funding page explains the charge structure. Invoices cover the next half-term, with payment due during its first two weeks.

Children can bring a packed lunch or have a separately paid cooked meal organised through Nether Stowey School Meals Service (NSSMS), booked with the school and paid weekly or termly in advance. Packed lunches need an ice pack because perishable food cannot be kept in cold storage.

Moving on to School

The nursery describes a close working relationship with adjacent Nether Stowey C.E V.C School to help children moving there with transition. Attendance at Stowey Bears does not guarantee a Reception place: families still apply through the local authority admissions process. The useful benefit is transition support, rather than an admissions entitlement.

• Term-time timetable. Morning, afternoon and all-day patterns finish by 3.20pm, and attendance follows term time. Match these hours and the holiday breaks to your family’s care requirements.
• Thinking time and behaviour. The November 2021 improvement priorities concerned adults giving children more time to solve problems and applying behaviour strategies consistently. At a visit, ask how these work in everyday play now.
• Lunch and voluntary extras. Lunch supervision is separate from food, while snack and consumables charges have an opt-out arrangement. A written quotation should make clear which parts of your chosen attendance use funded hours and which involve payment.

Stowey Bears suits families seeking morning or afternoon preschool sessions as well as those wanting an all-day term-time pattern. Child choice, two room-level learning emphases, a key person relationship and Tapestry give its current offer a coherent shape. Its school connection adds practical transition work, with the admissions decision remaining separate.

The November 2021 Good judgement provides a dated quality reference. The clearest questions for a visit concern how staff balance adult help with children’s own problem-solving, and how consistently they communicate behaviour expectations.